Saturday, May 31, 2008

*Disclaimer: Just because I am using bullets does not make this post "fluff" or filler. I happen to think that bullets serve this particular post better than paragraph format.

Jim Paolillo from BathroomUpdates.com came by to repair the faulty grout at the base of the shower.

The before and after pics on the hoe page of his website are of my bathroom.

While walking about the driveway today, I noticed a number of stray roofing nails on the ground (actually Jim noticed them first) where the dumpster was (I cleaned them up and scoured for any other strays - don't need another tire problem).

I went by Whole Foods at lunchtime to troll for samples and some sushi and ran into a former student who works in the cheese department (he stopped me to ask me a computer question).

Nutella on Banana Bread, who'd of thunk it? you ask - Me, that's who and yes, it was fabulous.

I finished watching the Season 3 DVD's of The Odd Couple - Season 4 is scheduled to ship in mid-June (it's on pre-order at Amazon).

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

The roofers finally showed up after many failed attempts due to uncooperative weather. Once the work got started it got real noisy, real fast and Oliver, my cat, literally vanished.

I called for him and looked all over for more than an hour and couldn't find him anywhere. I began a systematic approach starting upstairs, going from room to room and closing each door afterward eventually ruling out the upstairs level after three run-throughs.

On the main level, other than the laundry room, there are no doors but very limited hiding places and I checked several times, called him, and still no luck finding him.

I did a very thorough search of the basement despite the fact that the basement door was not opened and as far as I know, he can't pass through solids, but I did two very careful walk-throughs of the basement and found no trace of Oliver.

After more than an hour I was getting pretty concerned. On a whim based on an experience from his wee little kitty days, I took a peek up in the fireplace chute, fiddled with the damper, and much to my delight a pair of the bluest eyes of all time came peering out. The noise calmed down briefly, but long enough for him to come out after seeing me and when how jumped down and into view, I could see that he was full of soot. While I must confess it looked super cute, he is mostly white and needed to be cleaned.

I brought my boy up to the bathroom, locked the door, and carefully proceeded to give him a shower. While it was evident that he hated every minute of it, he was quite patient and handled it all like a champ right down to the towel drying process.

When he was all clean and semi-dry, I took him down to the basement and brought his food, water, and litter box down there and let him be until it was all over. As of now, he's back to his normal rascal-ly self as if nothing ever happened and the new roof looks quite nice.

Monday, May 26, 2008

There were a number of years where our group of friends, many of which include the group that now gets together for our "Friend's Reunion" twice a year, got together for a Memorial Day picnic at Clove Lake (in Staten Island, NY).
The picnic was lots of fun and featured pretty much what you would expect of a picnic, various "barbecued' items (burgers and dogs scattered with the occasional piece of chicken) along with beer and Frisbees, footballs, and all around picnic fun (guitars and sing-a-long).
One of the more interesting and uniquely fun traditions that came to be was the Clove Lake Picnic Eve shopping trip. This was where many of us got together the night before the picnic and went to the supermarket to purchase that which we would devour the following day.
There was one particular picnic that comes to mind and that comes up often when we get together to reminisce about those days. Dan, who later met Anne, to become corporately known as Dan and Anne, showed up at this one particular picnic. As I recall, he never got back to anyone during the period where we all got back to someone to kind of get a handle on how may people would be there and to get the shopping pinned down.
Anyway, Dan comes trolling into Clove Lake and as he says hi to everyone, he reached into his back pocket and whips out a steak! You heard me right, he whipped out a big, fat, uncooked, steak from his back pocket and uttered something like this, "Hi everyone, I'm sorry I couldn't make the shopping trip so I brought this steak."
I don't think we will ever stop talking about that!
Johnny Dee, if you remember other details that I forgot or can color up this tale of yesteryear, please chime in using the comments section.

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Back in the day, my friend RM had a healthy obsession with Stevie Nicks. So, I decided to follow along as we tried to pick up tickets to each of her concerts on the New York/Long Island/New Jersey amphitheater circuit.
The New York and Long Island shows went off without a hitch but we couldn't score tickets in advance to the New Jersey show so we decided we'd go anyway and try to find a scalper outside.
We get to the venue, then called The Garden State Arts Center, drove around a while looking for tickets and were somewhat surprised that there was nothing around. Not panicking, we parked the car and began walking around hoping to find three extra seats (for, Me, RM, and an ex of RM - DC or DK, I know not how to spell her last name).
Disappointment began setting in as the opening act, Peter Frampton was just about to take the stage and we sat there behind the chicken wire fence ready to give up and head home when out of nowhere, something of a miracle happened.
A guy from the other side of the fence, the "in" side, came over and asked if we needed tickets. Our natural reaction/response was "How Much?" His reply, "I was expecting three friends and they never showed, so you can have them for nothing."
Ecstatic, we headed in and were seated before the end of Frampton's first song and the show was memorable in that RM actually went to the front of the stage, handed Stevie Nicks a pair of sunglasses, and she actually took them. Such fun!

Friday, May 23, 2008

Thursday, May 22, 2008

When we did national Poetry month last year it was a very different animal than this year (which I thought was wonderfully executed). Last year, it was kind of thrown together willy-nilly and everyone just started mass emailing poems quickly floding email boxes - which despite my adoration for poetry, pissed me off to do something dickey.

I decided to google "world's worst poem" and eventually found a poem called "The Tay Bridge Disaster". You can click on the link and see for yourself, but trust me, it lives up to it's legendary reputation. It was fun getting feedback from colleagues and them skating around how horrible my entry was; classic fun!

Anyway, a month and a year later, the following story shows up in "believe it or not" fashion in The Boston Herald:

A collector paid $12,840 yesterday for original works by William Topaz McGonagall. Up for sale by Edinburgh auctioneers Lyon & Turnbull was a collection of 35 poems McGonagall self-published in the 1890s, in which he rambles about everything from a theater fire and the life of Robert Burns to women’s suffrage and Britain’s imperial wars.

McGonagall’s work outstripped a collection of rare and inscribed Harry Potter [website] books by Edinburgh resident J.K. Rowling, which fetched $12,000 at the same sale.

McGonagall’s lack of talent was matched only by his delusion and ego. Along with the 35 poems were a portfolio of posters and two copies of his rather short autobiography - dedicated to himself, “knowing none greater.”

Known as the “Tayside Tragedian,” after his dire poem “The Tay Bridge Disaster,” McGonagall was ridiculed during his lifetime. He kept an umbrella with him during recitals for protection from rotten tomatoes.

But he has attracted a cult following. “Everyone knows him as the world’s worst poet, but we are still talking about him today and he’s attracted an international audience here,” said Alex Dove, books specialist at Lyon & Turnbull. “He’s appreciated because he’s comedic, he’s got bad vocabulary and the rhyme is cringeworthy.”

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

I'd like to think my 100+ votes last night made a difference and perhaps in some way they did. However, David Cook didn't just win he won by more than 12 million votes over the disturbing David Archuleta.

Yes, for the first time this season, I had to pick up the phone and do my part to see to it that the correct winner was chosen. I know that Radioactive Girl is joining in the celebration...Rock On dude!

Other Bits:

Jill, please come back to bloggerville! I hope you are well.

I'm not feeling so good, I may need to call in sick tomorrow.

I hate that the Yankees are sucking so far this season, I hope they wake up soon.

Best of luck to my buddy Steve Fekete as he winds down on his few weeks off and heads back on tour with Avril Lavigne as they head across the pond.

Monday, May 19, 2008

I was tagged unofficially by Erin on this one and then officially by Joy - so, not one to shoot down a meme, here I go:

Rules: The rules of the game get posted at the beginning. Each player answers the questions about himself or herself. At the end of the post, the player then tags five people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

Ten years ago: In May of 1998 it was only my 8th month living in Massachusetts, my 3rd month of my current and only job I've had as a resident of MA, I had owned my current car for only 6 months, and while still adjusting to life away from New York City, I had already begin to realize how wonderful life can be away from New York City.

Five things on today's "to do" list:
1. Watch the rest of the ACM awards
2. Talk about the season finale of The Office
3. Order some CD's
4. Curse the medical community for the "Love your Gall Bladder Diet" (I assure you that within the medical community it's called the "Hate your taste buds diet")
5. Get my tire fixed

Things I'd do if I was a billionaire:
1. Travel for sure
2. Focus primarily on philanthropic work
3. Continue to teach
4. Build a state of the art, nationwide no-kill pet shelter and veterinary clinic
5. Finally justify owning a Lexus (hybrid of course)

Sunday, May 18, 2008

There was a period back in the 80's where I decided I wanted to dabble with magic. So, I spent some time at a couple of different magic shops and read a few books and began doing a few tricks here and there at parties. It was super fun.
There was a brief period of time that I started working kids parties (I did about half-dozen paid gigs) and the last time I ever did a "show" for kids was at my friend Duane's house for his daughter's birthday party.
I did this classic trick where I made a cone out newspaper then I took a pitcher of milk and poured the milk into the newspaper cone and then opened up the newspaper to reveal that the milk had disappeared. The kids were totally amazed (as were the adults) but since that was my last trick, I packed everything away, brought my bag upstairs and went to hang with the adults.
About five or ten minutes pass when I hear Duane's wife scream "Chris! I am gonna kill you!" Evidently the kids liked the milk trick so much that they had decided to try it out for themselves and ended up pouring the better part of a gallon of milk all over the basement floor. Good times!

Friday, May 16, 2008

Just got back from a "newcomer's" dinner to welcome some new folks to our church. It was lots of fun and one of the defining moments of my faith journey, Our rector (head priest) saying grace with a bottle of Sam Adams in her crossed hands - this was a truly beautiful moment.

Gave my last final and submitted all my grades today, the semester (as far as teaching goes) is officially over!

After a brief pause, I need to re-prep my course as we move to Office 2007 in the curriculum and I switch texts for the first time in a couple of years.

My single most depressing moment in a library happened this week, I check out the book "High Blood Pressure for Dummies".

I've had a stack of roofing materials in my yard waiting for bad weather to give way so that the roofers can roof with it.

The expressions "Digital Insanity" and "Digitally Insane" just came to mind - I need to copyright them.

I had to walk away from a discussion about The Office because I hadn't yet seen the episode; that's up for this weekend.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

I have a student that a few weeks back shockingly got a 98 on an online quiz. Even more shocking is that this student completed the quiz in about 23 minutes, even with a full 60 minute time limit and she only completed a percentage of the online training available before the quiz and with a 10 week time limit to do all of it.
Based on previous class performance to that point, I had every reason to believe that this student did not take the Windows quiz on their own so I confronted the student and asked outright if this was the case and the student denied any outside help insisting they did the quiz entirely on their own.
Fast forward to tonight, the final exam, part 5, which is made up of 33 of the 63 questions on the exam this student got a 98 on in 23 minutes. Shockingly, this student needed 33 minutes, the maximum allowed to get a grade of 27!
Once again I gave this student the opportunity to come clean, "...can you still tell me that you did the original quiz without any assistance? You did it all by yourself?" I asked. Very quietly I heard back, "yes I did."
I handed the student back the grade they would receive for the semester, an F and the student was clearly surprised! This student failed each of the in-class exams by a very large margin yet was still surprised at receiving an F.
I will be filing a report on my suspicion that this student cheated, especially because of her not willing to come clean. I don't think this student deserves to move forward, especially if they are planning to be in the medical profession. Imagine the scenario where the student is a nurse and accidentally give a wrong medication dose and the only way to save the life of the patient is for this "nurse" to own up to their mistake, but they won't...patient dies. Not gonna happen on my watch.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

-Shooting from the hip behind the wheel of my jeep (recorded Mon 5/18).
-An odd story about a guy who got screwed out of his seat on a JetBlue flight.
-Survivor:16 seasons down the road and still going strong.
-Which TV show cast would I most like to hang with?

Sunday, May 11, 2008

I've never been a big fan of Mother's Day and Father's Day because they were created, like all those other "Halmark Holiday's". I do think the sentiment of Mother's Day and Father's day are stronger and more meaningful than most of the others but also believe that these sentiments should be expressed throughout the year.

It's also far different for me to deal with either of those day's since both of my parent's have long passed on. There are times when I am simply sad and times when I am downright jealous. All I have left are memories and while I do celebrate what I had with my parent's joyously, it doesn't make not having them around fel any less different.

To all of those out there who are parents, you have my undying respect. For those of you who have a relationship with their parents, don't take what you have for granted - cherish it.

Saturday, May 10, 2008

I was laying back on my sofa just chillin' and happened to be looking up at the ceiling, a textured ceiling and almost 6 years of living here, I had just realized that there is a textured penis in the design - and I can't help but believe it was intentional.
Here, have a look for yourself:
Click on it if you want to make it bigger (yes, I went there). Can you see it? I'm kind of creeped out a little sort of.

Friday, May 09, 2008

Here's a nice email I just received from one of my students:Teacher,Just wanted to say "Thank you" to you for being so available and willing to be helpful. You are a great teacher and a credit to the profession.StudentI'll never tire of emails like that!Here's another from an unknown that I found peculiar:Administrator Confirmationonsumer@consumerdirectoryresources.com]To: MeThis message is being sent to you because you are an educator and as such,would want to know about education related topics.
No action is needed.
Address:
C-04 ,3 Ground floor
Antop hill Warehousing Co.Ltd
Wadala (E)
Mumbai -400037
India
If you would prefer not to receive further messages from this sender, please click on the following e-mail link and send a message with or without any text:Please click here to Unsubcribe
WTF? The unsubscribe was a link that I dare not click on but are these odd ones getting odder or what?
In the News:
An Arkansas mom pregnant with 18th child. Holy Fucknuts Batman! How the ef is that even possible?

Thursday, May 08, 2008

I'm giving my final exam next week in my Thursday night class and offered optional attendance this week and for those who choose to show would get a review for the final exam.
Class started at 6pm, at which point 1 (out of 15 or so) showed up and he only did because he forgot it was optional and had 1 question about something. This guy is almost assuredly going to get an A or close. He was gone by 6:03.
At about 6:10, I was disappointed that the few folks who really needed some help didn't make the effort to show up but fuck'em if they won't seize an opportunity so I headed out.
As I got downstairs, a colleague asked for some help so I lent a hand and then afterward realized I left my keys in my office (which happens to be adjacent to my classroom) and when I went to fetch them, realized 1 other student showed up.
Quite frankly, I wouldn't have stayed for any student because some just don't deserve the courtesy (based on a semester of poor performance and laziness) but this guy always worked hard and was late for a good reason. It was kind of cool because his major concern was with one topic so I printed off the results from his exam and went over one by one all of the problems he had with that topic.
I'll never understand why the larger percentage of people who accept help or take advantage of opportunities for extra credit are the students who don't really need it.

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

Ever since the Walk for Hunger this past Sunday, something has not been right with my tummy. Belly aches and nausea,two of my least favorite things in the world.
Along the walk route there were 9 checkpoints each offering water. At the 10.5 mile they give out "snack bags" and at 16.5 and 18.5 they had oranges (quartered).
between all of the hands and the constant rain, my guess is that I may have been contaminated, hopefully with just a stomach bug. I hope it goes away soon.
I love my new sneakers. I was sad not to use them for the Walk for Hunger but with such awful weather I opted to not destroy them after only one use and pulled out an old pair of Reeboks that held up well on the stormy trail.
I need to contact the Buonanno's of Macungie to see if the June 7th reunion party is still on because that is quite a hike and plans need to be made (Johnny D and/or Jane, have you heard?).
Until next time, don't sizzle bacon, sizzlean.

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Please be assured that whether or not you agree with what I write in this post, nothing I say here is off the cuff but rather based on a decade of work and study of higher education, learning environments, and student behavior.
Being a college student is a commitment. There's a level of commitment necessary to be in class on time, to spend the requisite amount of time studying and doing the necessary course work, and the respect and maintain a professional learning environment for yourself and your peers.
I have had enough of parents bringing their kids, especially very young babies, to school with them - it is unacceptable on every level. If you have no one to leave your child with, then get your priorities straight and stay at home with your kid and come back to school when you can figure out how to honor your commitment to your education without sacrificing the more important commitment to your child.
I am not saying it is not possible to honor both commitments at once but bringing your child to school with you is not how to do it. If you do not have access to adequate child care, then your first priority is your child and until such time where you can provide adequate child care, then you have no business being in school.
While I have seen this many times, just today there was a mother there with two children. One of them could not have been more than six or seven and her job was to look after her sibling who is clearly less than a year old while mom was out in the library and out and about campus focusing on her studies. This in my opinion is deplorable parental behavior aside from being rude and intrusive to all other student who paid money and dedicated time to their studies only to be interrupted by a crying child or a misplaced toddler. This is also simply unfair to the children who can't properly be cared for in this environment that was not designed for their presence.
Are there solutions? I would imagine so. I can't delve into the personal lives of the student offenders nor do I care to so as far as solutions related to their lifestyle, I can't go there. However, there are broader solutions that can make a difference - one idea might be a cooperative of parents with the same problems joining together to offer child care for each other and agree to work out their class schedules to accommodate each other. Another possible solution might be to find an advocate at the school who might find a way to offer child care services and part of student services (our school does offer child care stipends to qualifying parents - rather progressive considering it's a state run community college).
I've spoken my peace, I know this could be considered a controversial topic and as such, I welcome all opinions and views and remain flexible and open to all views on the topic and possible solutions so that all parties are treated with the respect and integrity they deserve.

Sunday, May 04, 2008

I completed my 5th Walk for Hunger today, that's 100 miles and all I can say for right now is OUCH! My legs feel like lead but I am happy to report that Egan's recommendation of Body Glide has spared me of painful chafing.
Today was a rough walk, it rained for the entire time but I did manage to complete the 20 mile walk in 4 hours and 50 minutes despite the far less than optimal conditions.
The Boston Common is the start and end of the walk and I thought I'd use this as an opportunity to see how the "insert map" feature works in Windows Live Writer.

Saturday, May 03, 2008

With the Walk for Hunger set for tomorrow I have been monitoring the weather forecast in between the hectic world of nearing the end of the spring semester's busy-ness. Unfortunately, there is rain in the forecast and as miserable as the thought of walking 20 miles in rainy weather sounds, I have lived the experience and know exactly what I am in for; and I am not happy.

I thought it might be a good idea to have a rain poncho. I'm not a sport hiker or anything so it was impossible for me to justify the $80 poncho at REI, so I thought Walmart might have the solution that fit my needs and budget.

Much to my surprise, the parking lot resembled that of a Christmas time rush as did the inside of the store. I couldn't believe the crowd; there were lines at the cashiers weaving in an out if aisles, it was totally insane.

After struggling my way through the crowded aisles that are barely wide enough to fit two wagons going in opposite directions, I did find a snappy rain poncho that I am certain will serve the purpose and at $6, it was easy on the wallet. Of course while there I chose to maximize my trip costs ($3.59 a freaking gallon!) and selected a few other essential items before my long wait to pay for my purchases.

Through it all, I just couldn't get over the crowd. I kept joking with people that I expected the lights to dim and a DJ to start busting out some phat jams. I couldn't resist asking people if they had any clue why it was so busy, I almost felt like I might have stepped out of reality and forgotten about some holiday that I should have shopped earlier for.

And yes, I used the term "white trash" in the title and I know it's an awful, derogatory term. However, I was there and it fits.

Thursday, May 01, 2008

Amidst a roof replacement and having seen a local news report, I recently revisited the idea of solar panels.
The (very) rough estimate for solar panels on my house is $45,000 - $50,000. It appears I'd qualify for about $20,000 in rebates which means I'd still have to front $25,000 - $30,000.
There's reason to assume that this system would generate enough electricity to eliminate my electric bill completely but all that considered, best case scenario my share of the investment wouldn't pay for itself for 8-12 years.
Considering that I don't have the $25,000-$30,000 seed money and do have: a mortgage, lots of other home improvements that need to be made, and other expenses, there's no chance I'm putting up solar panels at this time.
I really love the idea of solar panels and all of the benefits they offer, I wish it was easier to do. However, wouldn't it be an interesting piece of legislation to require either all or a percentage of all new developments to be built green.
Thoughts?